BEL@UMBC

BIOELECTRONICS LABORATORY

DIRECTOR: Dr. GYMAMA SLAUGHTER

News

Prof. Slaughter receives Prestigious NSF Career Award

Assistant Professor Gymama Slaughter's research and education has been recognized with a $400,000 CAREER award from the National Science Foundation (NSF), demonstrating how she is already making valuable contributions to UMBC's mission of advancing scientific knowledge.

The NSF CAREER award is one of their most prestigious awards for junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholar through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research.

The recognition that Dr. Slaughter has received the CAREER award from the National Science Foundation is evidence of the value she brings to our university and the Baltimore community.

The research goal of Dr. Slaughter's CAREER project is to develop miniaturized self-powered biosensors that can generate bioelectricity from blood sugar and monitor blood sugar level simultaneously.

Inertia power scavenging design will be used to harvest the biochemical energy stored in glucose by converting it into electrical energy. This design will use enzymes attached to three-dimensional nanowire arrays to generate energy to power bio-implantable devices.

This research project is intriguing because it may one day advance implantable closed-loop insulin delivery and blood glucose monitoring in individuals suffering from diabetes in real time.

The educational component of Dr. Slaughter's CAREER award focuses on producing a stronger foundation in the use of novel nanomaterials for advanced applications in energy scavenging and medicine for undergraduate computer engineering, chemistry, chemical and mechanical engineering majors at UMBC as well as enhancement of graduate education in electrical and computer engineering.

This project builds on Dr. Slaughter BioMEMS course that is geared towards reviewing electrical, physical and chemical concepts important in advanced nanomaterials; the course also integrates programming components to introduce students to data analysis and numerical methods necessary for modern experimental and theoretical investigations in BioMEMS.